Backstage roles and Senior Vice President of Talent Operations (2001–2012)[edit]

Laurinaitis was hired in as a road agent after WWE's acquisition of certain assets of WCW in March 2001 and in June on the same year, Laurinaitis was promoted to Director of Talent Relations.[5] In June 2004, Laurinaitis replaced Jim Ross as Vice President of Talent Relations, then being promoted to Senior Vice President in February 2007[5] and finally to Executive Vice President in March 2009. However, when Stephanie McMahon took over Talent Relations and handed over the reins to Paul Levesque, Laurinaitis moved down from his executive duties to being Senior Vice President of Talent Operations.[6] Laurinaitis's tenure in this role has received criticism from those who have worked for him, including Jim Cornette who, in his interviews with Kayfabe Commentaries, described how Laurinaitis failed to work in the same capacity with Ohio Valley Wrestling (WWE's developmental territory) as Ross did, often failing to warn the promotion when wrestlers OVW were using at the time were going to be called up to the main roster or when wrestlers from the main roster were set to appear for OVW but never did. Eventually WWE would end their relationship with OVW.[7]

Following his tenure as an on-screen performer in 2012, Laurinaitis was relieved of his backstage executive duties and returned to his original role as a road agent.[8]

Having operated for 5 years behind the scenes, Laurinaitis received his first mention on WWE programming during 2005 when Matt Hardy (who was not under contract at the time) called him out during a worked shoot backstage scuffle with Edge. His second mention was during 2006 when D-Generation X (DX) jokingly imitated his voice to The Spirit Squad. This was the last time for 5 years he was mentioned on TV.

5 years later on the June 27, 2011 episode of Raw, Laurinaitis was described by CM Punk during his infamous 'pipe bomb' promo as a "glad-handing, nonsensical, douchebag yes-man" who would "tell Vince McMahon everything he wants to hear".[9] Laurinaitis subsequently made an appearance alongside McMahon as a corporate stooge during the main event of the Money in the Bank pay-per-view the following month. At the climax of the WWE Championship match, under McMahon's orders, Laurinaitis tried to duplicate the Montreal Screwjob, but defending WWE Champion John Cena then proceeded to knock Laurinaitis out, not wanting to win the match that way. This interference allowed CM Punk to win the match and the championship. The next night on Raw, Laurinaitis appeared alongside McMahon as McMahon announced an 8-man tournament to decide a new WWE Champion following Punk's departure from the company. On the August 1 episode of Raw, Laurinaitis interrupted Triple H, telling him to strip Cena of his WWE Championship, which led Cena to interrupt him and threaten to hit him again before Laurinaitis fled the ring. The following week on Raw, Laurinaitis helped Triple H officiate the contract signing between CM Punk and John Cena for their match at SummerSlam. After signing the contract, Cena flipped the table over and go face to face with Punk, but was stopped by Laurinaitis. As Laurinaitis talked to Cena, Punk kicked Laurinaitis in the back of the head, causing Cena to accidentally hit Triple H instead of Punk.

Following Summerslam, Laurinaitis began to make regular appearances on WWE programming as part of an angle in which Triple H attempted to find out who had sent a text message to the returning Kevin Nash telling him to attack CM Punk after his victory at Summerslam, causing him to lose the WWE Championship to Alberto Del Rio who cashed in his Money in the Bank contract immediately afterwards. On the August 15 episode of Raw, Laurinaitis asked Nash for a private meeting in his office, and on the September 5 episode of Raw, after Triple H fired Nash, Laurinaitis was seen entering Nash's limo with him, leaving the arena. During this period Laurinaitis was also regularly shown sending text messages backstage and at ringside. After Nash claimed that he had sent the text message to himself, it was implied that Laurinaitis was working to try and undermine Triple H in his new role as Chief Operating Officer, presumably because he wanted the job for himself. At Night of Champions, Laurinaitis interfered in the main event in an attempt to have Triple H removed from power but was stopped by The Miz and R-Truth, who attacked both Triple H and CM Punk, believing there to be a conspiracy. Nash also interfered in the match after Laurinaitis sent a text at ringside.

Laurinaitis, background, had a rivalry with WWE Champion, CM Punk, from late 2011 into early 2012.

On the October 10 edition of Raw, following a kayfabe 'strike' by members of the WWE roster as a result of Triple H's management, Laurinaitis was announced by Vince McMahon on behalf of the Board of Directors as the new Interim Raw General Manager.[10] That same night, Laurinaitis would fire Jim Ross and reinstate The Miz and R-Truth, who had been suspended following repeated attacks. After a few weeks of impartiality during which he pledged that he would listen to the WWE fans using his slogan of "People Power", Laurinaitis began showing bias against WWE Champion CM Punk, who had repeatedly criticized Laurinaitis and questioned his integrity over the past few months.[11] On the December 26 edition of Raw, Laurinaitis would place Punk in a gauntlet match, where if one of his three opponents were to pin him, they would receive a shot at the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. Punk agreed to the match under the condition that if he beat all three, then he would receive a match against Laurinaitis himself afterwards. During the match, Laurinaitis would distract Punk, allowing Dolph Ziggler to pin Punk and earn a title shot.[12] The following week on Raw, Laurinaitis would distract Punk once again, causing him to be counted-out in his title match against Ziggler, thus retaining the championship.[13] Laurinaitis then made a WWE Championship match between Punk and Ziggler at the Royal Rumble, in which he named himself special guest referee. Laurinaitis continued to cause Punk to lose to Ziggler throughout January[14][15] which ultimately led to Punk attacking Laurinaitis in retaliation, claiming that he was abusing his power.[15] Laurinaitis began to declare himself as the soon to be permanent Raw General Manager. In response to this, the Board of Directors ordered that his position as Interim General Manager would be taken under review by Chief Operating Officer Triple H. At the Royal Rumble, Laurinaitis brought in another official to allow Punk to claim a victory over Ziggler. On January 30 edition of Raw, Laurinaitis was set to have a performance review by Triple H. During the review, Triple H would degrade Laurinaitis and his actions, but before he could announce the final decision he was interrupted by The Undertaker. The Board of Directors then decided on February 7, 2012 to retain Laurinaitis as Raw's interim General Manager.[16] Laurinaitis subsequently began a feud with SmackDown general manager Theodore Long. It was announced on February 27, 2012 that the respective General Managers of Raw and SmackDown would be changing places for one night only with Laurinaitis in charge of SmackDown for March 9, 2012 and Long in charge of Raw for March 5, 2012. On that week's edition of SmackDown, Laurinaitis wrestled his first match in 11 years (as well as his first for WWE), losing to Theodore Long in a singles match.[17]

Laurinaitis would continue his feud with Long through to WrestleMania XXVIII, where both Long and Laurinaitis chose a team of six superstars to represent them, with the winning team earning General Manager control over both brands. At WrestleMania, Team Johnny defeated Team Teddy, resulting in Long losing his position as General Manager of SmackDown. On the April 6, 2012 edition of SmackDown, Laurinaitis forced Long to become his new assistant after threatening to discontinue Long's grandchildren's trust fund. On the April 23, 2012 episode of Raw, Laurinaitis appointed Eve Torres as Executive Administrator of Raw and SmackDown.

On the April 30, 2012 episode of Raw, Laurinaitis, with the aid of Tensai, attacked John Cena, before announcing that he would be Cena's opponent at Over the Limit. On the May 14 episode of Raw, Laurinaitis publicly humiliated and then fired Big Show from the WWE after Show disrespected him for constantly making fun of his voice. That same night, the Board of Directors sent Laurinaitis a letter stating that he would be fired if he lost the no disqualification match against Cena at Over the Limit. At the pay-per-view, Laurinaitis defeated Cena despite taking a heavy beating after Big Show interfered and attacked Cena. The following night on Raw, Laurinaitis, now using a power chair and crutches for mobility purposes, would announce he had rehired Show after helping him win the match against Cena.

On the June 11, 2012 episode of Raw,Vince McMahon would give Laurinaitis a job evaluation. Before McMahon could announce the firing of Laurinaitis, Big Show would hit the WMD on McMahon by accident. At No Way Out, Cena defeated Show in a Steel Cage match. After the match, McMahon fired Laurinaitis and this was followed by Cena hitting the Attitude Adjustment on Laurinaitis through the Spanish announce table. The next night on Raw, Laurinaitis announced that as it was his final show in charge, he had booked a 3-on-1 Handicap Match, teaming up with Big Show and David Otunga against Cena. During the match, both Show and Otunga walked out on Laurinaitis, which allowed Cena to hit Laurinaitis with three Attitude Adjustments before making him tap out to the STF.

Laurinaitis made an appearance on the March 29, 2013 edition of SmackDown, offering The Rock his services as manager for his match at WrestleMania 29 against John Cena. Rock responded by giving Laurinaitis a Spinebuster and a People's Elbow. Laurinaitis made a brief appearance in a backstage segment at Survivor Series, alongside Los Matadores, R-Truth, Santino Marella, and Fandango. He also made an appearance at the 2013 Slammy Awards, presenting the Rookie of the Year award to The Shield.

Laurinaitis made another appearance during SmackDown's 15th Anniversary Special on the October 10, 2014 episode of SmackDown in which he formed a team to face Teddy Long's team to be determined as the greatest GM in SmackDown history. The match was won by Teddy Long's team. He made another appearance at the Slammy Awards in December.